[ Why we need a ceasefire to save lives, release the hostages,
prosecute war crimes, and follow international law: a guide for those
still uneasy, unconvinced, or uncertain.]
[[link removed]]

SOME FACTS FOR THE UNCONVINCED: WHY WE NEED A GAZA CEASEFIRE NOW  
[[link removed]]


 

Phyllis Bennis
December 18, 2023
Foreign Policy in Focus
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

_ Why we need a ceasefire to save lives, release the hostages,
prosecute war crimes, and follow international law: a guide for those
still uneasy, unconvinced, or uncertain. _

Wounded Gazan families prepare to flee a refugee camp Israeli forces
bombed in Rafah, Gaza, October 2023 (Shutterstock),

 

THERE IS NO MILITARY SOLUTION — THIS WAS TRUE IN AFGHANISTAN AND
IRAQ AND IT IS TRUE IN GAZA. IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO DESTROY HAMAS
MILITARILY.

Going to war against a small group of militants doesn’t work —
with nearly 20,000 Palestinians killed, it still appears as of this
writing that Israeli forces haven’t killed any top leaders of Hamas.
Such military action only breeds greater resistance.

Hamas isn’t only made up of its military wing. It has a political
wing that carries out Islamic education, social welfare, and other
functions. And while its religious focus is not particularly popular,
it is perceived by Palestinians across Gaza as the only Palestinian
force standing up to Israeli occupation, apartheid, and the 17 years
of siege Israel has imposed on Gaza since before October 7.

Destroying Hamas would require the destruction or expulsion of much of
the population of Gaza (and even then, the group and its ideas would
likely continue in exile).

GETTING THE ISRAELI HOSTAGES RETURNED IS HUGELY IMPORTANT — AND
CANNOT BE ACHIEVED WHILE THE BOMBING ASSAULT CONTINUES.

Without a ceasefire, there is no way to keep hostages safe to safely
transfer them to Red Cross (ICRC) custody for return home once Israel
returns to Qatar-based negotiations over terms of the hostage
exchange.

As long as bombardment continues and the IDF continues its ground
invasion of Gaza, the risk of more hostages being killed (like the
three hostages killed mistakenly by the IDF on December 15) rises.

ISRAELIS ARE INCREASINGLY VIEWING THE HOSTAGE FAMILIES AS THE MORAL
CENTER OF THEIR COUNTRY, AND MANY OF THE FAMILIES ARE DEMANDING A
CEASEFIRE. 

[Israelis rally in Tel Aviv for a return of hostages captured by
Hamas, October 2023. (Shutterstock)]

Israelis rally in Tel Aviv for a return of hostages captured by Hamas,
October 2023. (Shutterstock)

The families understand that the safety of their loved ones can only
be maintained if the bombing and ground assaults are ended.

The actions of Hamas and other militants against civilians on October
7 constituted terrible violations of international humanitarian law,
and the perpetrators should be held to account. All those violating
international law should be held to account.

But the actual work of investigating international law violations, and
the identification and locating of perpetrators, cannot go forward
while the constant bombing raids and tank battles continue against a
densely-packed civilian population of over 2 million. That work can
only happen once a ceasefire is in place.

The vital concept of “holding perpetrators to account,” in this
case Hamas and other militants, does not mean international law allows
for the collective punishment of millions of people, half of them
children. It can’t justify killing thousands of civilians and
destroying cities, towns, refugee camps, and the civilian
infrastructure therein.

WHAT PRESIDENT BIDEN AND SO MANY OTHERS HAVE RIGHTLY CALLED
“INDISCRIMINATE BOMBING” HAS TURNED ISRAEL INTO A PARIAH STATE,
COMPLETELY ISOLATED IN THE REGION, IN EUROPE, ACROSS THE GLOBAL SOUTH,
AND IN THE UNITED NATIONS.

Israel’s numerous violations against Palestinian civilians in Gaza
have earned Israel a stigma in the international community that will
endure well beyond the end of this particular set of military
operations. Initial sympathy with Israelis after the October 7 attacks
has been largely exhausted and conversation about that day eclipsed,
as Israel’s widespread and disproportionate destruction in Gaza and
refusal to yield to international pressure for a ceasefire have come
to the fore.

Israel’s military actions have dashed plans for its own
international relations efforts, particularly the expansion of the
Abraham Accords, other normalization agreements with regional states,
and ensuring European support for Israel through the Association
Accord and beyond.

Although there’s a growing recognition that the current Israeli
government is extreme and includes authoritarian and self-defined
fascist elements in high positions of power, that doesn’t mean that
governments and people around the world think that a mere change of
leadership in the Knesset will reverse Israel’s commitment to
continue this assault. The leadership of the political opposition in
Israel includes numerous military leaders who were responsible for
many earlier assaults on Gaza based on the strategy of “mowing the
grass” to justify sequential indiscriminate attacks on the Gaza
Strip. (As the _Washington Post_
[[link removed]] defined
it, “The phrase implies the Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip
and their supply of crude but effective homemade weapons are like
weeds that need to be cut back.”)

THE U.S. IS MORE ISOLATED THAN AT ANY TIME AT LEAST IN THE PAST 20
YEARS AND IS SIMILARLY SEEN AS A PARIAH AROUND THE WORLD.

Washington — and the Biden administration in particular — is
increasingly seen as enabling, funding, and arming an Israeli assault
shaped by violations of international humanitarian law, including war
crimes, crimes against humanity, and more.

Statements from Biden and Congressional leaders that “we stand with
Israel” and that “we always will have Israel’s back” —
combined with the continuing U.S. provision of seemingly unlimited
amounts of weapons known to be used to attack Gaza — undermine U.S.
claims of concern about civilians, support for a supposed “two-state
solution,” or commitment to international law.

When the U.S. cast its veto on December 8 to stop the UN Security
Council from calling for an immediate ceasefire, even the UK did not
support Washington. When the same resolution went to the veto-free
General Assembly five days later, the U.S. and Israel stood virtually
alone, with 153 countries supporting the resolution and only 8 others
voting no with Washington and Tel Aviv.

The General Assembly votes are often dismissed as “non-binding.”
But this vote was taken in an Emergency Session under the UN’s
“Uniting for Peace” resolution of 1951, which under U.S.
sponsorship allows the Assembly to consider and vote on peace and
security issues generally limited to Security Council consideration.
Under those conditions General Assembly resolutions are widely
considered not only indications of global opinion, but arguably
binding as well.

ON THIS ISSUE, THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION IS ISOLATED ACROSS THE
COUNTRY. IT’S SHOWING ITSELF TO BE FARTHER OUT OF TOUCH WITH THE
MOST ACTIVE AND ENGAGED SECTORS OF ITS POLITICAL BASE THAN EVER BEFORE
— AND THE LEVEL OF PASSION IN THE RESPONSE OF BIDEN’S BASE IS
HIGHER THAN FOR ANY OTHER FOREIGN POLICY ISSUE WITHOUT U.S. TROOPS IN
HARM’S WAY.

[Thousands of marchers gather in Philadelphia to support peace and
Palestinian rights. A media report said the march was attended by
"dozens." (Photo by Joe Piette. It's available for re-use with
attribution to the photographer.)]

Thousands of marchers gather in Philadelphia to support peace and
Palestinian rights. (Photo by Joe Piette. It’s available for re-use
with attribution to the photographer.)

The statistics are clear: 66 percent of the American people
[[link removed]] want
an immediate ceasefire, including 80 percent of Democrats. Protests in
favor of a ceasefire are continuing across the country and include
Jewish organizations, unions, city councils, elected officials at all
levels, churches of all denominations, and many others.

There is also an unprecedented outpouring of public and private, named
and anonymous, opposition from a wide swathe of federal workers —
from White House interns to congressional staff to State Department
and USAID workers — all refusing to remain silent as the U.S. aids
and abets the Israeli assault.

WASHINGTON’S DIRECT FINANCIAL AND MILITARY SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL’S
ASSAULT UNDERMINES ITS CLAIMS OF COMMITMENT TO THE RULE OF LAW — AND
ESPECIALLY ITS CLAIMED COMMITMENT TO DIPLOMACY.

The administration’s efforts to persuade Congress to send Israel an
additional $14 billion in cash and weapons on top of this year’s
previous $3.8 billion undermine any claims that the U.S. government
requests for a changed Israeli strategy are serious. The recent
announcement of a U.S. “emergency” sale to Israel of $106 million
worth of replacement tank armaments and more further undermines that
claim.

THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S INCREASINGLY PUBLIC REQUESTS FOR ISRAEL
TO PAY MORE ATTENTION TO CIVILIAN SAFETY HAVE SO FAR FAILED — AND
WILL CONTINUE TO FAIL SO LONG AS ISRAEL UNDERSTANDS THERE WILL BE NO
CONSEQUENCES FOR SAYING NO.

Those “requests” must be turned into requirements, linked to
direct changes in actual U.S. policy — such as conditioning all aid
to Israel on ending its violations of the Geneva Conventions and other
parts of international humanitarian law, and ending the longstanding
U.S. protection of Israeli officials from accountability in the
International Criminal Court. Otherwise polite requests will continue
to fail.

Regardless of Washington’s public requests for Israel to scale back
its ground invasion in favor of Special Forces operations, what most
people across the U.S. see is the continuation of President Biden’s
bear-hug diplomacy, shaped by “we have Israel’s back.”

WHATEVER CHANGES HAPPEN OR DON’T HAPPEN IN THE TACTICS OF THE
IDF’S GROUND INVASION OF GAZA, IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO END OR EVEN
SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE THE DIRECT KILLING OF CIVILIANS AS LONG AS THE
BOMBARDMENT CONTINUES.

Gaza was one of the most crowded pieces of land on earth before this
most recent assault. Now almost all of the 2.3 million people
imprisoned in the Strip have been forced to move to the southern third
of the territory. That means the lack of water, sanitation,
electricity, fuel, food, medicine are all much more drastic and
urgent. According to the World Food Program, 90 percent of Gazan
families are now hungry and half the population is starving
[[link removed]],
while diseases are spreading due to the lack of clean water and
sanitation as well as shelter.

Israel’s bombing has destroyed about 60 percent of all housing in
the Strip, and most of the rest is severely damaged. Israel has also
targeted UN facilities, schools, hospitals, clinics, mosques, and
churches — all of which had been serving as overcrowded shelters for
the 85 percent of Gazans forced from their homes.

LIKE THE U.S. RESPONSE TO 9/11, ISRAEL’S MILITARY ASSAULT IS ROOTED
IN VENGEANCE (“DESTROY HAMAS”), NOT JUSTICE (“FIND AND BRING TO
ACCOUNT THE PERPETRATORS OF OCTOBER 7”). AND THAT ASSAULT IS
VIOLATING NUMEROUS PARTS OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW.

[Displaced Palestinians take shelter at the UNRWA (The United Nations
Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) Beach School, after
evacuating their homes damaged by Israeli air strikes, on October 12,
2023 in Gaza City, Gaza. (Getty)]

Displaced Palestinians take shelter at the UNRWA (The United Nations
Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) Beach School, after
evacuating their homes damaged by Israeli air strikes, on October 12,
2023 in Gaza City, Gaza. (Getty)

All perpetrators of war crimes should be brought to justice. The fact
that the October 7 attacks on civilians violated international law
does not give Israel the right under international law to launch a
full-scale military assault on the entire population of Gaza.
Israel’s response has violated provisions of international law
including:

* DISTINCTION: the requirement to distinguish between civilians and
combatants.
* COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT: a complete prohibition on attacking anyone
not specifically responsible for an act of war or violence.
* PROPORTIONALITY: the requirement that any attack on a civilian
person or civilian target deemed necessary because of urgent and
specific military necessity must be limited as much as possible, and
any civilian casualties must be proportional to that specific military
necessity.

Israel’s violations include targeting hospitals and medical
personnel and firing on people attempting to surrender, including the
three shirtless Israeli hostages holding a white flag and shouting for
help in Hebrew.

There are also specific and absolute obligations of an occupying power
(such as Israel in regards to Gaza) to provide the basics for survival
including water, food, medical care, fuel, and shelter. So the
expanded siege imposed after October 7,, on top of the Israeli-imposed
siege underway since 2007, represents another set of violations.

WASHINGTON’S ACQUIESCENCE TO ISRAEL’S CONTINUING VIOLATIONS OF
INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW MAKES THE U.S. COMPLICIT IN THOSE
CRIMES. 

The U.S. failure even to acknowledge Israel’s violations sends a
message to governments and people around the world that the
much-vaunted U.S. commitment to international law is conditional on
whether the government violating international law is deemed a close
ally or a potential opponent.

According to many influential scholars of genocide studies
[[link removed]],
Israeli violations may be approaching specific violations of the
Genocide Convention. As a signatory to the Convention, the U.S. is
obligated
[[link removed]] to
do whatever is in its power to prevent a potential genocide. But
instead of using its influence to stop these dangerous Israeli
actions, the U.S. is enabling them by sending money and arms without
conditions, which would certainly violate the Convention’s specific
crime of complicity in genocide.

On the other hand, U.S. support for an immediate ceasefire would go a
long way towards meeting Washington’s obligation to prevent
genocide.

_Phyllis Bennis is a fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies and
serves as the international adviser for Jewish Voice for Peace. Her
books include “Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A
Primer
[[link removed]].”_

_Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF) is a “Think Tank Without Walls”
connecting the research and action of scholars, advocates, and
activists seeking to make the United States a more responsible global
partner. It is a project of the Institute for Policy Studies._

_FPIF provides timely analysis of U.S. foreign policy and
international affairs and recommends policy alternatives on a broad
range of global issues — from war and peace to trade and from
climate to public health. From its launch as a print journal in 1996
to its digital presence today, FPIF has served as a unique resource
for progressive foreign policy perspectives for decades._

* Israel/Gaza
[[link removed]]
* Cease Fire
[[link removed]]
* international law
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

 

 

 

INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

Submit via web
[[link removed]]

Submit via email
Frequently asked questions
[[link removed]]

Manage subscription
[[link removed]]

Visit xxxxxx.org
[[link removed]]

Twitter [[link removed]]

Facebook [[link removed]]

 




[link removed]

To unsubscribe, click the following link:
[link removed]